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I finished this rectangular shawl back at the end of August. I loved the construction, which was knit from the center out, but it was a bit of a tangle at first. The yarn is Plucky Primo Fingering from The Plucky Knitter. Super soft with a nice drape and the colors are so saturated, I love it.

Bitty Front Range Cardigan

This cute little cardigan was made for a friend’s sweet baby girl. The pattern was easy and fun to knit. I forgot how fast it is to knit baby clothes! The yarn is CoopKnits Socks Yeah DK is this pretty coral color. I also made the buttons with some leftover calico and a button kit I’ve had from Joann’s.

Water Hat

This hat pattern by Thea Colman was great for practicing cables, a skill I’d like to get better at before attempting a larger project. I finished this in less than a week in mid-September. The yarn is Trusty from The Plucky Knitter is a gorgeous cerulean blue. I also used it for my Dog Walker sweater. The proceeds of the pattern sales were donated to The Flint Water Project to provide bottled water and school supplies to children in Flint, MI. In addition, I’m send this to be included with other hand-knitted hats that are being collected as holiday gifts for the children.

Yellow Submarine Socks

Knit with Must Stash Yarns self-striping yarn in Land of Submarines, that was part of her series inspired by The Beatles. I love the gradient of blues with the pops of bright yellow. These were worked on intermittently though most of the summer and were completed at the end of September.

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I have to admit, I’m so pleased with how my Dog Walker Sweater turned out. It fits like a comfy, well loved sweatshirt and the color makes me smile every time I look at it.

The pattern was straightforward and easy to follow. A top-down raglan with miles of stockinette, it was perfect summertime knitting. I especially like the broken rib at the cuff, neckline, and hem. It gives it a little subtle interest than using a basic ribbing. This is the worsted weight version, but there’s an Aran weight that I might cast-on later in the fall. The only modification I made was changing the turtleneck to a crew.

The yarn is Trusty from The Plucky Knitter. A 100% merino superwash that is soft, squishy and feels great against bare skin. A great workhorse yarn for any project. The color is “You’re Gonna Make It After All” a beautiful bright cerulean blue with the slightest variation. Swoon.

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Most of my projects right now are longer term, I wanted to do a bit of a progress report to keep myself accountable and on track for finishing by the end of summer. Here’s the breakdown of the four I have on my needles:

1. The Dog Walker Sweater

This worsted weight sweater is actually going fairly quickly. I cast on the first week of July as part of a KAL and I’m on track to finish by the August 10th completion date. I’m bit farther along than the photo, I finished the hem and started on the first sleeve. 2. Dendros Shawl

I cast on this large rectangular wrap/shawl a little before the above sweater. The beginning was a bit complicated, since it’s knit from the center out, but it’s now smooth sailing. It’s fingering weight yarn on size US 3 needles, so it will take a while, but’s it’s going to be so worth it. Goal it to have it done by Labor Day.

3. Yellow Submarine Socks

I always seem to have a pair of socks on the needles. I carry them with me and usually work on them while waiting at swim lessons, and oil change, etc. My current ones are self-striping yarn inspired by The Beatle’s song Yellow Submarine. Fitting since the movie is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. No real completion goal for these, but I know they’ll be finished before school starts.

4. Tea with Jam & Bread Sweater

This striped worsted weight sweater is actually for Joey. I’m doing a striping sequence and to have the sleeves line up with the body, I’m working them all at the simultaneously. This is making it go faster and slower at the same time. I’m intentionally making a little too large for him right now to make sure it will still fit when sweater weather is here again I want to have this done before school starts as well.

Hopefully, I’ll reach my goals on finishing, my knitting queue is already full for my next projects and I’m itching to cast on something new.

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So, Joey has been attending a little dinosaur camp this week through the park district. They’ve been doing little dinosaur/fossil crafts and stuff all week and he’s loved it. When picking him up, I heard another boy say “there’s an annoying boy named Joey” when his mom was asking him and his brother how the class went. His brother saw me and told his brother to hush and I just swooped up Joey and got out of there without responding because I didn’t want to confuse Joe.

It was like a physical slap in the face. A punch in the gut. I felt myself start to physically deflate and the tears welling up as we walked out to the car. (After Joey stopped to look at the world map mural and checking that Madagascar was represented, as one does.)

I immediately started hating myself that I didn’t say anything. But what does one say? To be honest, Joey can be annoying. He’s loud, asks a million questions, can be messy, strong-willed, and sometimes needs additional assistance or instruction. He is oblivious to personal space, will interrupt people, and sometimes sings or recites dialog to himself from TV shows/movies. But he is also enthusiastic, friendly, outgoing, and carefree. He loves to learn, explore, and discover. He shares with others and is always willing to help.

All this week, I’ve wanted to say something to this mother and her boys. I’ve thought of a million different scenarios, ranging from a calm, rational explanation of ASD to a raging mama bear attack that would point out all the faults of her parenting and how troll-like her children are. (They were not troll-like . . . maybe a little ogreish.)

So today was the last day of the class. I was walking in to get Joey and I passed the trio walking down the hallway to leave and again I heard the little boy say something about “that annoying kid” to his mom. They were actually past me and almost around the corner, very easy for me to let it go again. Instead, I turned around an said,”Excuse me, I’m sorry but I want you to know that Joey is on the Autism spectrum and that might be why he was doing some things that could be considered annoying.” They stopped and turned around. The mom and older boy eyes opened wide and looked a little stunned while the younger on looked bashful and was hiding behind his mom. ” And I’d really appreciate it if you could talk to your sons about being a little more accepting and understanding about those that might act differently from what they expect.” I was barely able to get the words out at the end without letting out a sob. The mom paused and asked if she could hug me and I let her. Why, I don’t know. I then just looked at her as asked her to speak to her kids again and turned around and walked the rest of the way to the classroom and got Joey. He was so excited and proud to show me his glue covered dinosaur model that he didn’t notice the tears in my eyes.

So, I gathered up the rest of his craft projects, checked the map mural (Madagascar was still there.) and came home.

Parenting a child with special needs is hard. It can be isolating, lonely, and oftentimes filled with guilt. It’s painful to hear others say things about your child for any parent, but it’s even more hurtful when you know that some of those unflattering comments are based on his ASD. I am fully aware that I will not be able to shield Joey from this happening throughout his life. I know that kids, and adults, will look at his behaviors and judge him as “weird, annoying, a little off, etc.” I just hope that more will get to know him for who he is personally before they make their conclusions.

I hope that by sharing this story, others will think about how they teach their children about being different and will maybe dig a little deeper when they say that some “annoying” kid was in their class.